Concerns about distributed gas generation

by David Hetherington

Two curious articles raising concerns about distributed gas generation by Drew Warne-Smith in the Australian over the last couple of days.  One queries the capacity of the gas network to supply fuel for tri-generation  and the other suggests health risks as a result of nitrous oxide emissions.
 
Both articles set up straw men.  Of course, it will require more gas to be transported into CBD areas as fuel, but this is hardly rocket science.  The Netherlands get 30% of their total electricity production from distributed gas and manage to supply far more people at a higher density than we’ll have to here in Australia. And the distribution economics seem to stack up there.
 
The nitrous oxide (NOx) story is even more of a beat-up when put in the context of vehicle emissions.  Let’s say there are 2 million cars in Sydney (and probably more).  Each consumes 1kW per day so we’re talking 2,000 mW of energy generation, with gasoline producing far more NOx and particulates than distributed gas.  And that’s before you start including trucks.
 
The observation in the first article by Matthew Wright of Beyond Zero Emissions that the costs of gas is uncertain is something of a non-sequiter.  Show me a fuel source whose costs are certain.  Surely that’s not a reason to avoid a proven technology which can demonstrably reduce CO2 emissions tomorrow?

'All That's Left: What Labor Should Stand For' receives strong launch press

Michelle Grattan writes in The Age "FEDERAL cabinet minister Greg Combet has warned Labor not to subordinate good policy to focus group research and declared Labor must rebuild its reputation as ''the party of progress''. ...He said focus groups and polling had a role to play, noting they were crucial to the success of the union campaign against WorkChoices, which he spearheaded before the 2007 election.
''However, they cannot have primacy - they simply inform strategy and how to promote policies and win support for them. They cannot compel the party to abandon its values,'' he said, launching All That's Left: What Labor Should Stand For, by Nick Dyrenfurth and Tim Soutphommasane." To read the full article, link here.

GREG Combet has declared Labor failed to articulate its values and what differentiates the party and must "rebuild its standing", Partricia Karvelas writes in The Australian. Launching All That's Left, edited by Tim Soutphommasane and Nick Dyrenfurth, the left-wing minister conceded yesterday that the dumping of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme badly damaged Labor's left-wing vote at the August 21 election." For the full article link here.

All that’s Left: What Labor Should Stand For to be launched by the Hon Greg Combet

On Tuesday 2 November, All that’s Left: What Labor Should Stand For edited by Nick Dyrenfurth and Tim Soutphommasane, Senior Project Leader, Per Capita will be launched by the Hon Greg Combet, Minister for Climate Change.  

The edition has chapter contributions by Tim on social justice, by David Hetherington on progressive economics and by Dr Dennis Glover, Per Capita Research Fellow, on the potential for a Red-Green Coalition.  It has recently been positively reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald, and will be shortly reviewed in the Australian.

For details click here. 

David Hetherington to appear on Radio National, Tuesday 2/11/10 9am

David Hetherington will be a guest on Richard Aedy, Life Matters, ABC National Radio, on Tuesday 2 November at 9am. 

David will be discussing the implications of an emerging gulf between the buoyant Australian economy and the sluggish economies of our major peers, as well as the Joe Hockey proposals on banking reform.

Economic credibility key to social democratic success

THE gap between policy intention and execution is usually far wider than anticipated.

IT'S in the nature of politics to generate friends and enemies by drawing borders and declaring hostilities.

Of all the many criss-crossed trench lines traversing our contemporary political battlescape, none is more enduring or more deeply dug than the one than defines Right and Left according to calculations of the size and ambition of government. For many commentators the global financial crisis proves the point.

Now, on the face of it you might think that the percentage of gross domestic product allocated to public as opposed to private expenditure might give only a limited perspective on the general health, happiness and wellbeing of citizens.

After all, many conservative governments spend more and save less well than their social-democratic rivals, if only because their favoured constituencies are sometimes more expensive to woo.


read the whole article in Today's Australian.

Edited extract from All That's Left: What Labor Should Stand For, edited by Nick Dyrenfurth and Tim Soutphommasane (New South Books, $29.95).

Unsung servants of Labor ideals

THE party's advisers bear little resemblance to the cynical pragmatists of popular myth.

In today's Australian, Dennis Glover writes "AS the ALP begins its official investigation into the causes of its recent near catastrophe, one group inevitably will be singled out for blame: political advisers. This is unjust, it is wrong and it's time someone said so. So I'm going to do something rare: write in defence of the political adviser." 

To read the interesting argument, link here.

Excessive market power in banking

Excellent ABC Radio interview this morning on excessive market power in banking with Josh Fear of the Australia Institute. Josh makes a number of strong points about the power of the Big 4 banks to generate ‘super-normal’ profits. Specifically, they use movements in their cost of funding as an excuse to lift interest rates and fees when RBA analysis confirms that since the GFC increased funding costs have lagged interest rate rises.

A particular suggestion Josh mentioned was previously raised by Per Capita in our Memo to the Prime Minister – the use of existing government infrastructure to provide low-cost savings and transaction accounts.  In today’s Fairfax papers, Elizabeth Knight, Katharine Murphy and Eric Johnston canvass a related idea of some merit, that Australia Post network could offer banking services, as the postal service does in New Zealand.

One point on which I’d disagree with Josh is his description of the current state of banking as a failure of market competition.  I’d argue the opposite – that we need greater competition in banking to provide the public with more choice and ease of switching between banking providers.